The Heart of Yoga

What is the relationship between Yoga and religion? Following on from last week's episode with Janet Marshall talking about Yoga and Catholicism, this week we are honoured to be joined by Devaraj from Chennai, speaking from his perspective about the relationship between religion and Yoga. Is Yoga Hinduism? How do the two intersect? Devaraj was born and lives in the city where Krishnamacharya and his son TKV Desikachar taught for many years, and where they established the Krishanamacharya Yoga Mandiram, there to this day. He holds a fascinating perspective on Yoga and how it has empowered his devotional life. Mark and Devaraj discuss what happened once he started practicing yoga. In Krishnamacharya's scholarly view, the entire Hindu world should be given yoga as the most vital part of their devotional life. They discuss the lineage from Ramanuja Acharya to Krishnamacharya and the temple in Chennai. 04:00 What got a man from Krishnamacharya's home town involved with The Heart of Yoga. Discovering the practice of the unitary movement. In this episode you will hear... 13:00 ''The whole of Hindu India should be given Yoga as the most vital part of devotional life''. From a life of seeking to a life of being present. How subtle changes affected home and work life. 28:00 Mark and Devaraj discuss stories of how aspects of Hindu society combined with Yogic ideas affect life and family relations. 39:00 Devaraj takes Krishnamacharya and Desikachar's book to the ancient temple of Ramanujar for blessing, as a Yoga participant and not a seeker. Follow this podcast for new episodes here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS/XML If you feel moved to submit a question for a future episode, you can do so here: https://www.heartofyoga.com/podcast You can find more from the Heart of Yoga on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Mark Whitwell discusses with Yoga Teacher Janet Marshall of California the process of becoming a Yogini and Transmitter of Yoga. Janet talks about how Yoga helped her to actually understand for herself what was being talked about in the sacred text of her religious culture. They discuss going beyond the restrictions of the usual life, and surviving getting lost in the sea of Yoga knowledge and coming back to the simplicity of the heart.Janet Marshall is a mother of three and Yoga Teacher in Southern California, and is deeply versed in Yoga philosophy and the Yoga therapy traditions that grew from Krishnamacharya and Desikachar's work. She is a full-time teacher of Yoga, cares deeply for all her students and is a profound force of nurturing in her community. She co-founded the Heart of Yoga non-profit in the US back in the 2000s and has worked tirelessly to help make Yoga accessible to all. Thank you Janet. In this episode you will hear... 04:00 Discovering Yoga from the position of a ''faithful'' person. Conflict with the church. 16:00 Truth is not a point of view. 25:00 No longer being attracted to the promise of salvation. Spirit baptism. 40:00 Innocently born into a very restricted world. Leaving a marriage of 20 years. 55:00 The importance of repetition. ''Pain is healing.'' 60:05 Working with advanced aging people. Be who you are and teach what you know. Yoga therapy. Follow this podcast for new episodes here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS/XML If you feel moved to submit a question for a future episode, you can do so here: https://www.heartofyoga.com/podcast You can find more from the Heart of Yoga on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Ilil is the Heart behind Tali Tali collective, a social enterprise to nurture indigenous weaving traditions (tali tali means weaving) and create income for rural women, including here on Taveuni island, Fiji. Rosalind speaks with her about Tali Tali, the extraordinary hand made Yoga mats they are helping bring to the world, and the "Woven Village" program just completed, which included teaching yoga in the rural indigenous villages of Taveuni Island. Ilil talks about the joys and challenges of adapting Yoga to the needs of the women, being sensitive to Christian culture and traditional village culture. We also talk about the new (ancient) way of being of service, beyond the "do-gooders high" or imposing anything on communities, and how instead it can be about learning together, sharing tools. This will be a fascinating listen for anyone working with communities new to Yoga or suspicious to Yoga, as well as anyone suspicious of the plastic commodity known as the "yoga mat" and wondering what to do about that. And just inspiring in general as a story of having a positive dream, and making it happen despite all obstacles (like no planes going to Fiji). Please go to www.talitali.org to see/order the beautiful mats, read more about the project, and donate if you have the means! You can also follow on Instagram @talitali_tribe. In this episode you will hear... 02:00 Ilil Lunkry's background, weaving, living and being. The birth of Tali Collective. Creating an empowerment program. 11:00 Working around the suspicion of Yoga as witchcraft, Christian sides of the community, putting the program together starting with Yoga. 29:00 Tantra, to weave and to bring things together, sacred gestures. What is weaving? How to weave Yoga mats from plants. 40:00 The community response to the program. Bringing the sexes together. Empowered women speaking their minds, and bring the program to the rest of the world. Follow this podcast for new episodes here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS/XML If you feel moved to submit a question for a future episode, you can do so here: https://www.heartofyoga.com/podcast You can find more from the Heart of Yoga on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Ronan Tang and Xi Zhu are a bridge for humanity between East and West, master translators and facilitators of the Heart of Yoga in China. Together they facilitate the unity of ancient wisdom traditions. What is the relationship between Daoism and Veda, between Yoga and Chinese Traditional Wisdom practices? What is the relationship of ha-tha yoga to the yin and yang of the Dao? How does Tai Chi relate to Yoga? Ronan and Xi are the living examples of the answers to these questions in China, dear friends bringing together the wisdom traditions of their culture with those of their neighbour/sister country India. Together they speak with Mark and Rosalind about their process of "whole body translation", the story of working together for the last 15 years, why Chinese students adapt to "Yoga of participation" so easily, and their experience of how these teachings can bypass all techniques and bring harmony to relationship. They also discuss how Chinese characters such as 放松 (fàngsōng, relax) and 樂 (lè, yuè – joy, music) reveal insights especially relevant for Yoga practitioners. If you are a Mandarin speaker/reader and would like more information on the community in China, online gatherings etc, get in touch with rosalind@heartofyoga.com. In this episode you will hear... 02:30 Let go of the idea of relaxation. The Dao is precious. 06.00 What is the meaning of Yin and Yang. 11.00 Cutting through the panic for knowledge. Passing on the teachings in China. 19:00 Doubt, the power of the cosmos and realizations. 26:00 Working with B. K. S. Iyengar. Tools of needles, herbs and Yoga. 34:00 Yin, Yang and wisdom are deeply engrained in the DNA of the Chinese. 40:00 Ronan and Xi speak of Yoga and relationship(s). The Flower doesn't advertise it's own perfume. 48:00 Cultivating the best medicine from within, the intelligence of the body, and the students. Follow this podcast for new episodes here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS/XML If you feel moved to submit a question for a future episode, you can do so here: https://www.heartofyoga.com/podcast You can find more from the Heart of Yoga on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Jessica Patterson is the founder and director of Root Centre for Yoga and Sacred Studies, which she offers to the world from her home in Colorado Springs, USA. Jessica is someone who has managed to successfully keep the heart in Yoga. She escaped the "Yoga Industrial Complex," and continues to teach purely as the force of nurturing in local community — and beyond. Jessica speaks with Mark about keeping the Centre going through the pandemic, whilst always acknowledging that "Yoga is Not Commercial Activity". This episode will be heart-food for all practitioners and teachers "swimming against the stream" of commercialism and hegemonic co-optation of the sacred traditions, and navigating the demands of students with warped expectations of what yoga is. She also explains her ground-breaking "Untrainings," and how Yoga functions for students as an unlearning process, rather than the hoarding of more knowledge. Online educational programs and more information at https://www.rootdownandgrow.com/root-teachers/jessica-patterson/ In this episode you will hear... 01:00 The introduction. 05:00 Ancient arrowheads, wandering the ancient worlds. Trespassers and relationship. 12:00 A white trespasser v's indigenous wisdom. Traceable lines of trauma. The opposite of memory. 25:00 Pain is a function of mother nature. Don't meditate or meditate your way out of it. Un-training. 40:00 We should be falling on or knees on the mere sight of each other. Our bodies are not franchises. Yoga is not about the teacher. It's about the student. 50:00 The transition from instructor to teacher with a capitol T. Being here and being hair. When you're full you're a terrible consumer. Confronting patents. Follow this podcast for new episodes here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS/XML If you feel moved to submit a question for a future episode, you can do so here: https://www.heartofyoga.com/podcast You can find more from the Heart of Yoga on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Yoga is not seeking for a future idealism. Yoga is participation in the given Reality (capital R). The beauty, the wonder, the power, the harmony that is intrinsic to your life. Yoga is not to use the body or the mind to seek. Yoga is to give the body and all ordinary conditions over to the capital-R Reality, which is its context. The collaboration of great luminaries has freed yoga from the unnecessary struggle that leaves so many people injured or disappointed. Mark and Rosalind discuss the implications of Yoga without struggle. In this episode you will hear... 01:20 Fish don't know what water is. What is reality? What is Yoga without struggle? 09:00 Yoga is giving over to life as it actually is. 16:00 Wandering around India. Finding authenticity. 24:00 Every movement taught by that system is like an expression, like a dance. 33:00 The body is for giving over to its actual condition...the cosmos. 44:00 Negative associations of sacred texts. 57:00 Yoga should be actual, natural and non obsessive. Follow this podcast for new episodes here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS/XML If you feel moved to submit a question for a future episode, you can do so here: https://www.heartofyoga.com/podcast You can find more from the Heart of Yoga on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Since psychedelics first escaped the research environment and sparked the counter-culture in the mid twentieth century, they have been aligned with the traditions of the East. But how do Yoga and psychedelics relate to each other? Are they complementary? Or antagonistic? Mark and Andy discuss the original counterculture, the current "psychedelic renaissance" and latest applications to mental health, as well as their own experiences. In this episode you will hear... 01.32 High school Yoga catching on. The Divine is not located elsewhere. The colonization of spirit based cultures. 08:00 Screwy mainstream cultures, systems and radical Yoga. Capitalism without a product. 12:00 Spiritual change of states and that thing we all wanna hear more about : psychedelic experiences 23:00 Feeling like there's way to get to absent truths. Heroic quests. The problem is the ego. The solution is to destroy the ego. 28:00 You don't have to untie the knot. The knot never happened. Finding your way back. Psychedelics and prescription drugs. Yoga is a tool. 37:00 No more psychedelics, sex or weed until your practice is established. Yoga and Buddhist Mindfulness Meditation. There's a difference. 46:30 Is the a Yogic framework for the use of psychedelics? A call to stop interfering. Higher defilements. 56:00 Current culture doesn't have the capacity to enjoy mystical experiences without it turning into a problem. 1:04:00 The sublime and the ordinary are one. The secrets of the universe are already given. Putting Yoga in the drinking water. Follow this podcast for new episodes here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS/XML If you feel moved to submit a question for a future episode, you can do so here: https://www.heartofyoga.com/podcast You can find more from the Heart of Yoga on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Mark and Simone discuss the roots of addiction, its cause and its cure. Simone relates her journey through her husband's early death and being mother to three little boys through to adulthood. Simone holds a PhD in nursing and works in the field of chronic pain. She is the author of Yoga Rx for the 12 Steps, and working on a new book on helping friends and family deal with addiction in their loved ones. Simone's story is a reminder that Motherhood is yoga. Our teacher Krishnamacharya would say that mothers are the nurturers of the community, therefore they must be nurtured too, and given their yoga and space to practice every day. "I find Simone's story particularly helpful for all people struggling with pain, grief, and addiction of all kinds. So, everyone, really. Most pertinent is that after a long academic career in chronic pain management, it turns out that the skill Simone holds as a yoga teacher proves the most useful healing methodology. It's a story of hope and triumph over circumstances." — Mark In this episode you will hear... 01.30 Seeing a friend in despair, in the grips of alcoholism. How did it happen ? 08.10 Mothers ''get'' Yoga first. Please the mother and everybody is happy. 16.00 Pain and isolation. Tapping into something outside of one's self. 22.25 The birth of feeling loved, cared for and nurtured. Recovery. 26.00 The motivation and inspiration behind the book. 35:00 How the boys are doing in the modern world and their Yoga. 44.30 Four years of western medical education, Simon's journey and revelations. 57.00 The loss of a home. Everything up in flames. Follow this podcast for new episodes here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS/XML If you feel moved to submit a question for a future episode, you can do so here: https://www.heartofyoga.com/podcast You can find more from the Heart of Yoga on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Minami Takashima was a successful business woman in corporate Japan, and here she tells her story of stepping out of exploitation and corporate hierarchy and stepping into her own power. Minami and Rosalind talk about the role of Yoga in this journey and how it has inspired her to teach across different countries and languages. The key theme is finding the authority of our experience and power. Minami offers private sessions in person in Nelson, New Zealand, and over Zoom in English and Japanese. You can find her on Instagram here : @yogawithminami In this episode you will hear... 01.53 The Belly Of The Beast : Corporate Japan. 05.00 ''Being a woman you are second class...'' 07.00 Getting free from the internal and external structure. 11.15 A little shoot of yoga into corporate life. Mother being the first Guru. 17.40 The process of Yoga learning, synchronicity and Bali. 21.15 Awareness of invisible hierarchies, breaking points and gratitude. 30.00 Stuck in Oz during the pandemic and finding the motivation to keep sharing. 37.00 Bringing teachings back to Japan and meeting Japanese culture and suppressed sexuality. 45.00 Tantra, sex and taboo. 50.45 Finding confidence in teaching, where it comes from and the power of one's own experience. Not needing approval. 54.50 Yoga texts and different relationships with knowledge. Being the authority of your own experience. Follow this podcast for new episodes here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS/XML If you feel moved to submit a question for a future episode, you can do so here: https://www.heartofyoga.com/podcast You can find more from the Heart of Yoga on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Mike Bucher is a musician in Los Angeles. His band, Iglu and Hartley have had hit singles around the world — great uplifting rock and roll. He now ventures forth as "Mike B and the Universe" with has solo album just released, 'Bloom Baby Bloom'. Mike is a yogi and a teacher in the heart of yoga. Mike speaks candidly about staying real in the midst of celebrity and the life of a working musician, and speaks about how Yoga has been a catalyst for his life, music and relationship. He teaches in Los Angeles and on his new album combines his great love of the American tradition of song and his yoga realization. Here we have a meeting of Woodie Guthrie, Bob Dylan and the Kinks. It is a very useful work in the world! Highly recommended. Stream or download it here! In this episode you will hear.... 2.30 - The band, meeting Mark and the touring artist years. 9.00 Strength That Is Not Received Destroys Itself. 11.00 The tortured artist syndrome and substance abuse. 15.15 The effect of yoga practice before a big concert is not just for the performer. 25.40 No such thing as ''I am a separate body....a sperate world...'' 27.05 You don't need to try to get into someone else's Mandala. You're sitting in your own. 30.00 Yoga does not require sophisticated language. Just practice. 35.00 Intimacy must come with yourself first before anyone else. '' You can't take heaven by storm''. 37.00 How Heart Of Yoga resonated with Michael with living in the heart of the yoga industry. 43.00 Teaching Yoga to those with special needs and in a downtown L.A. church. Coming from a Catholic background. 48.30 You must teach Yoga with respect with who a person is. Yoga and religion. 55.00 Song writing, Mandalas, inspiration and writing the new album of 108 songs. Follow this podcast for new episodes here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS/XML If you feel moved to submit a question for a future episode, you can do so here: https://www.heartofyoga.com/podcast You can find more from the Heart of Yoga on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.